Device for administering medicine to horses.



No. 726,460. PATENTED A PR.'28, 1903.

J. L. REID. DEVICE FOR ADMINISTERING MEDICINE T0 HORSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1902.

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JOHN L. REID, or AKRON, OHIO.

DEVICE FOR ADWHNBSTERING MEDICINE TO HORSES.

:PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726360, dated April 28, 1903.

Application filed November 8, 1902. Serial No. 130,529- (No model. i

plete specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in devices for administering medicine to horses through the month, in which either a liquid or a dry medicine may be used, as de- -sired; and the object of my invention is to produce a simple instrument which shall be easy and convenient to use and which shall be of such configuration or shape that it will throw the medicine over the highest portion of the horses tongue and into the throat with a view to insure more certainty that he will swallow the medicine thus given; and a further object is to so construct the device that the medicine to be administered cannot become unintentionally lost or spilled before it is safely placed in the horses throat.

A final object is to produce a machine which shall be capable of throwing capsules containing either liquid or substantially dry medicine with equal ease, thereby obtaining all the advantages of medicineinclosed in a tasteless and non-irritating shell.

T0 the accomplishment of the aforesaid objects my invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described and then specifically claimed, reference being had to the accompanying; drawings, forming a part of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numerals indicate like parts in the dilferent figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device with the capsule in position ready for administering; Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional view of the socket and end of my device in which the capsule is placed; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail of the tubelike body, showing a slot used to hold the lever for releasing the throwing mechanism; and Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional view of the handle and so much of the body of the instrument which contains the capsule-throwing machinery.

In the drawings, 1 is a long hollow highlypolished metallic tube bent near one end at an obtuse angle. On one end of this tube is a handle 3 for convenience in holding the in strument. This handle is hollow a portion of its length, and into this handle is inserted the tube 1. Within this end of the tube 1 is a coiled spring 3, capable of considerable expansion and contraction. In front of this spring is a loosely-sliding head 4, mounted on the end of a long slender rod 5, passing entirely through the tube 1. From one side of this head 4 is a short lever 6, projecting through the slot 7 in the tube. At one end of the slot 7 is an offset 8, in which the lever 6 is pressed when the spring is compressed preparatory to loading and firing the device. This slot is short in length, with a View to limiting the travel of the head 4 by reason of the projecting lever 6 encountering the end of the slot 7. The rod 5 passes through the tubular body portion 1 of the devlce and into the head 9, a description of which follows.

The front or head end of the tube 1 is thread ed, and onto this is screwed ahollowcylindrical socket-like head 9. In the outer end of this head, in which the capsule is to be placed, is bored a hole larger than the diameter of the capsule to be used, and on the interior are inwardly-projecting springs 10, which press lightly against the sides of the capsule when it is inserted to retainit in place against unintentional displacement. In the bottom of this opening in the head 9 is a circular eoncave disk 11, fastened to the end of the rod 5 and so made that when the spring is compressed and the lever 6 inserted in the offset 8 of the slot 7 it will nicely seat in the bottom of the cavity in the head 9. It is designed that the front face of this disk 11 shall be concave, With a curve substantially matching the rear end of the capsule to be used in this device, and it is also preferable thatin inserting the capsule into the end of the head 9 it be pushed far enough therein to rest firmly against the disk 11, so that when the spring 3 is released and the disk 11 projected forward quickly it will push forward the capsule itself;

The operation of the device is as follows: The device is grasped firmly in the hand, and by means of the lever 6 the spring 3 is compressed until the lever 6 reaches the offset 8 in the slot 7, when it is turned slightly to one side and catches and is held in this offset until released by a slight movement of the finger or thumb of the operator. A capsule, in which is placed either liquid, dry, or pastelike medicine, is inserted in the end of the head 9 and pressed firmly to place. The device being then held by the operator in one hand, he grasps the tongue of the horse with the other hand, pulls it firmly forward, and inserts the head 9 as far down the horses throat as it is possible to do, and While in this position he presses the lever 6, which releases the spring, and the impact of the spring is transferred to the capsule, which is shot down into the throat. The operator then releases his grasp on the tongue of the horse, which in returning to place carries the capsule so far backward in the throat of the horse that it is impossible for the horse to cough it out.

The administering of medicine by this device is greatly facilitated if the capsule is dipped in Warm Water previous to being used, thereby preventing any danger of the dry capsule sticking in the throat.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A device for administering medicine to animals consisting ofa hollow tube-like body having a curvature near one end substantially equivalent to the curve of the throat of the animal to which medicineis to be administered, a socket-head having oppositely-disposed inwardly-projecting springs to hold the medicine to be administered, a plunger having a head adapted to enter the medicine-retaining socket, a spring situated Within the body of the instrument arranged to actuate the plunger, a trigger on said plunger arranged to reciprocate in a slot in the body of the instrument, a notch at one end of said slot to retain said trigger normally in position, and a handle to afford a grasp for the hand attached to the instrument.

In testimony that I claim the above I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN L. REID.

In presence of- G. E. HUMPHREY, MAUDE ZWIsLER. 

